Issue 56: A Bulletin for Big Ideas and Better Business

OPINION/ IDEAS

Why good ideas aren’t enough

💬 Sir John Hegarty

Good ideas kill companies. Assemble a talented team and direct focus to a specific problem, and – more often than not – they will come up with a meritable plan at surprising speed. I’ve seen this happen in every creative organisation I’ve worked in or led. “We’ve got it!” everyone cheers. But there’s a problem: the idea that’s been tabled is good, but it’s not great.

Having the discipline to appraise and re-appraise creative ideas is one of the toughest things. There is a boost in morale when a team arrives at something good. One that sometimes gives way to aggravation when someone (rightly, but inconveniently) applies a more critical eye, and encourages those involved to push the concept further. To take it to new places. Or to abandon it and start over.

Business is about delivering the exceptional

The most luminary creative leaders tend to understand the dangers of ‘good’. Jony Ive, the industrial designer best known for his work at Apple, said it well during an interview with WIRED: “Really great design is hard,” he said. “Good is the enemy of great. Competent design is not too much of a stretch. But if you are trying to do something new, you have challenges on so many axes.”

Business is about delivering the exceptional. When the bar in your organisation gets quietly lowered to mediocrity, adequacy or ‘good’, then decline becomes inevitable. Sudden failure, or breathtakingly bad ideas are less dangerous, in that they offer instruction and opportunities to learn. Meanwhile, there’s nothing to take from an unremarkable idea that slips through the net. When presented with a good idea this week, ask yourself: “OK, how do we make this great?”

THE AGENDA

🗓️ Diarise this: your agenda for the coming week

1.
London Fashion Week sees British big-hitters including Burberry and Simone Rocha sending new collections down the runway. There will also be plenty of fresh talent to catch at Central Saint Martin’s legendary MA show.
20th – 24th February

2.
Top journalists will be celebrated at the National Press Foundation’s awards on Thursday. The New York Times will be accepting an Innovative Storytelling Award for its coverage of the Hawaii wildfires while Christiane Amanpour will be honoured for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism.
20th February

3.
Friday sees the release of a new documentary about Martin Parr. The film follows the legendary photographer on a road trip from his Bristol hometown to New Brighton, where he shot his famous series The Last Resort.
21st February

4.
Venice Carnival is casting off on Saturday. Hundreds of colourful boats will be heading down the Grand Canal as part of a raucous parade that sees revellers dressed up in colourful masks and lavish costumes.
22nd February

5.
Dublin International Film Festival opens on Friday with a screening of Uberto Pasolini’s The Return, a film that reunites co-stars of The English Patient Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes in a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey.
20th February – 2nd March

COSTA RICA / CULTURE

Matias Sauter Morera, ‘Cristian en el Amor de Calle’, 2024
Courtesy: Craig Krull Gallery / artnews.com

Getty snaps up AI photograph

The Getty Museum made waves last week when it acquired its first AI photograph. The work by artist Matías Sauter Morera depicts two pegamachos — cowboys from Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Coast – a group that were renowned for having encounters with young gay men. His use of artificial intelligence, Morera claims, allows him to provide a platform for previously censored queer histories. What’s more, it’s a means of keeping his subjects anonymous and thus not putting any member of the community’s safety at risk. But it’s certainly a contentious topic, particularly given how thousands of artists released an open letter demanding that the auction house Christie’s cancel its upcoming AI art sale amid claims that the technology is exploitative of human craft. Is the new technology a tool, a creative partner or an artist itself? For now, the answer is unclear.

ON CREATIVITY /

Contributor: Sir John Hegarty

ALBANIA / ARCHITECTURE

‘Skanderbeg Building’ by MVRDV, by the main square in the centre of Tirana
Source: mvrdv.com

Tirana bets on star-chitect appeal

The Albanian city of Tirana is hoping that a series of new skyscrapers by internationally-acclaimed architects will help it build cosmopolitan clout. These aren’t your everyday glass-and-steel high-rises; firms are being given free range to create offbeat buildings that push the boundaries of contemporary architecture. So far, plans include a vertical-forest tower by Italian architect Stefano Boeri and a building that doubles as a “figurative sculpture” of Albania’s national hero Gjergj Kastrioti by Dutch studio MVRDV. It’s a bold bid for the former communist state to reshape its capital as a world city. And while encouraging creative expression is certainly commendable, planners would do well to ensure there is some degree of aesthetic harmony. If badly managed, the city runs the risk of ending up with a jumbled patchwork of mismatched architectural oddities. As ever, execution matters.

LOS ANGELES / ART

Frieze Los Angeles, 20 – 23 February 2025, Santa Monica Airport
Source: frieze.com

Frieze in the frame

Frieze Los Angeles kicks off its sixth edition this week, bringing together over 95 international and local galleries at Santa Monica Airport. This year, the fair expands its public programming with new initiatives that directly engage artists and communities affected by recent wildfires. Many exhibitors are paying tribute to LA’s resilience, with ambitious solo and curated presentations that spotlight local talent. Frieze is one of the many art institutions now coming together to promote the LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, which has so far raised $12 million in aid for artists and arts workers who have been impacted by the Eaton or Palisades fires. This collaborative effort underscores the creative community’s solidarity and capacity to mobilize resources in response to crises, illustrating a powerful collective response to disaster recovery.

Look for what you notice but no one else sees.

/Rick Rubin